Klik op een omslag om naar Google Boeken te gaan.
Bezig met laden... The Art of Drowning (1995)door Billy Collins
Geen Bezig met laden...
Meld je aan bij LibraryThing om erachter te komen of je dit boek goed zult vinden. Op dit moment geen Discussie gesprekken over dit boek. Billy Collins is so reliable. Again I enjoyed his word play. A number of rememberable poems. ‘Cheers’ v5, ' laziness was the mother of astronomy' ‘Thesaurus’ – ‘It could be the name of a prehistoric beast …’ ‘On Turning Ten’ – ‘Piano Lessons’ v5, ‘my left hand would rather be jingling the change ...’ A joy to read anywhere. Bear in mind, always, that star ratings are *personal.*? I am neither a poet nor a scholar.?á I found most of the poems to be instantly forgettable.?á The ones that didn't have so much obvious meaning so as to discourage me from digging deeper, were lame.?á The ones that were more subtle were too difficult for me, or referenced allusions only scholars would know.?á imo.?á ymmv. That being said: Shadow The sun finally goes down like the end of the Russian novel, and the blinding darkness over the continent makes me realize how tired I am of reading and writing, tire of watching all the dull, horse-drawn sentences as they plough through fields of paper, ?átired of being dragged on a leash of words by an author I can never look up and see, tired of examining the exposed spines of books, I want to be far from the shores of language, a boat without passengers, lost at sea, no correspondence, no thesaurus, not even a name printed across the bow. Nothing but silence, the kind that falls whenever I walk outside with a notebook and a passing cloud darkens my page. and from Driving Myself to a Poetry Reading ... There is a part of me that wants to let go of the wheel, climb over the seat and fall asleep curled in the back. This is the part I would like to see blindfolded some morning, dragged into a courtyard, and shot. .... and from Piano Lessons ... ?á5 I am learning to play It Might As Well Be Spring" but my left hand would rather be jingling the change in the darkness of my pocket or taking a nap on an armrest. I have to drag him into the music like a difficult and neglected child. This is the revenge of the one who never gets to hold the pen or wave good-by, and now, who never gets to play the melody. ...." Billy Collins’ poetry, I believe, is absolutely brilliant. He has said that one of the problems with poetry can be its inaccessibility, the distance created between the poet and the reader when the poet assumes the reader knows the subject and when the poem is unclear. Collins strives to do the exact opposite, being as clear as possible to make poetry accessible to everyone. Yet despite their clarity, the depth of Collins’ poems amazes me. He takes, for example, the reality of growing a year older in “On Turning Ten” and beautifully illustrates the personal yet universal reality that with each year we lose some of our innocence, our idealism: It seems only yesterday I used to believe there was nothing under my skin but light. If you cut me I would shine. But now when I fall upon the sidewalk of life, I skin my knees. I bleed. (49) Collins is also quite humorous, his poems having a certain lightness about them no matter what subject matter. In “Nightclub,” he considers the lack of variation to the saying “You are so beautiful and I am a fool / to be in love with you,” recognizing “I have never heard anyone sing / I am so beautiful / and you are a fool to be in love with me” (92). I would highly recommend this collection for its consistency and accessibility. There was rarely a poem I didn’t enjoy. Susan K. Billy Collins brought contemporary poetry to the mass market, by writing poems that are fun, good-hearted, and honest. No mysteries, no riddles, just a first rate generous mind observing the world. Inclusive, aww shucks poems on homely topics, sensitive, revealing, and beautifully written. Splendid. geen besprekingen | voeg een bespreking toe
Onderdeel van de uitgeversreeks(en)
This collection of poems has a subject matter ranging from the gustatory pleasures of osso buco to an analysis of the handwriting of Keats; from the art form of the calendar pinup to blues music. Geen bibliotheekbeschrijvingen gevonden. |
Actuele discussiesGeenPopulaire omslagen
Google Books — Bezig met laden... GenresDewey Decimale Classificatie (DDC)811.54Literature English (North America) American poetry 20th Century 1945-1999LC-classificatieWaarderingGemiddelde:
Ben jij dit?Word een LibraryThing Auteur. |
All you have to do is listen to the way a man
sometimes talks to his wife at a table of people
and notice how intent he is on making his point
even though her lower lip is beginning to quiver,
and you will know why the women in science
fiction movies who inhabit a planet of their own
are not pictured making a salad or reading a magazine
when the men from earth arrive in their rocket,
why they are always standing in a semicircle
with their arms folded, their bare legs set apart
their breasts protected by hard metal disks"
(68). ( )